Those that inspire us...

 
I found myself enamored with a story awhile back.  For a few days it lit up my web browser’s news feed, my radio, and TV; the story was about how Dennis Rodman had made a trip to North Korea to rub elbows with the new godfather of the crime family that somehow passes for a government there.  I’m sure you heard about it.  I was fascinated by the stories of the exhibition basketball game, the drinking, and of course the “diplomacy”.  Rodman found a “friend for life.”  It was a beautiful story.  What can I say? The spin doctors that brought us this story...“They had me at Dennis Rodman.”

Now cut me some slack, Dennis had been off the grid for awhile before he popped up here.  I hadn’t received his Christmas letter updating me on his life. I get drawn into stories like this sometimes; stories about celebrities, reality stars, and even average people during their fifteen minutes of fame.  I guess it’s human nature.  In my own defense it’s hard to avoid taking the bait all the time.  There is so much crap out there that passes for “news”... You’re bound to step in it from time to time. 

But the gist of this post isn’t so much about the quality of the journalism of today, or lack there of it (there has been plenty written on that topic).  It’s about me.  It’s about us.  I can point the finger, but it’s always better to point the thumb.  It bothers me when I get sucked into the stories like Rodman’s; stories about people who are in the business of self-promotion, from Paris Hilton, to Kim Kardashian, to Donald Trump...and on, and on, and on. 

It came to a head for me a few weeks ago, when I was reflecting on an experience I had with my students.  I was on my way to school one morning and I heard Steve Inskeep’s podcast on the life and murder of Parveen Rehman.  It’s the story posted above (hopefully you’ve taken the time to listen to it).  The story hit me pretty hard, in a way that few things do.  It educated, saddened and inspired me, all at the same time.  I saw lessons on purpose, happiness, humor, evil and on, and on, and on.  I needed to share it with my students.  So I did.  I played the podcast on a Friday at the end of the class period.  I could tell by the expression on their faces as they left the room that it had made an impact.  Then, on the way home that day, I started thinking about all of it. 

Why do I, and others, spend so much time reading/caring about the self-promotors when there are back page stories (unfortunately, that’s where you will need to look to find them) about the real people of the world; role models, heroes like the woman from Karachi, Pakistan who gave up everything to help people with nothing?  There are only so many hours in a day and unfortunately, we’re more likely to spend our time reading and reflecting on the trash found on page six. 

We may not come out and say it, in-fact, I’m sure most of us would emphatically deny it, but in those dark corners of our mind we’d even like to be those people we read about there; basking in the spotlight, living the lifestyle... I want the Trump helicopters, all of them.  There, I said it.  To that end, sometimes I wonder if given the chance, I wouldn’t even trade heads of hair with him, if the exchange could make that a reality. 

Pathetic.

I know what you are thinking...these self-promotors aren’t our role models or heroes, they are more like human versions of a train wreck we can’t take our eyes off.  While to a degree, this might be true, these people have way to much influence on who we are and how we live our lives.  What is sadder still, is the fact that we let it happen to ourselves.  Look around.  You'll find the evidence everywhere:  the superficiality, the greed.  It saddens and sickens me.  Why can't we...why won't we make more room/time in our lives for the stories of people like Parveen Rehman?  I mean most of you are reading about her here for the first time.  That's my guess.  Yet we all know a little something about the history of Kardashian "baby bumps." Right?

This brings me back to my students.  Mine are setting goals and hopefully, working toward them at this point in their life.  Who or what is influencing that process more...the endless stream of self promotion or people like our reluctant martyr who gave everything she had, literally, to lift up “horizontally” the people around her?  What as a society do we value more through our actions?

Tom Brokaw once said, “It’s easy to make a buck.  It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.”  Reflecting on the news stories above I'm reminded how true this is.  The world needs more Rehman and less Kardashian and Trump.  My hope is that my students will draw that same conclusion.  And while ultimately I won’t have the final say on that.  I can tell you that her story has had a deep and lasting impact on the life of a teacher half a world away.  It’s why I dedicate my first blog post ever, to the memory of Parveen Rehman.  RIP.